"Around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the driver of the N train informed us at the Queensboro Plaza stop that there was a shark onboard," a Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, spokesman said.

“The driver isolated the car and continued his run to the next station in Queens, where the animal was tossed in the trash. Transit officials have no idea how the animal ended up in the subway car,” the MTA spokesman said.

Photos of the shark were quickly posted on Instagram by passengers.

The shark incident occurred as the Discovery Channel promotes Shark Week, a week of special programming about the predators, leading some to ask whether it was a marketing gimmick.